European Private Lenders’ Shares Tumble as Selloff Intensifies
Fears around the strength of their underlying holdings increase
European private-equity firms sold off steeply Monday as fears around the strength of their underlying holdings intensified.
Shares in Stockholm-based EQT Group slid 8.85% to close at 269.70 Swedish kronor after a day of choppy trading. In Switzerland, Partners Group fell 8.4% to 850 Swiss francs, with the stock trading at its lowest level since July 2023. Asset managers CVC Capital Partners and ICG also fell Monday, dropping 7.1% in Amsterdam and 4.95% in London to the close, respectively.
The sector has fallen steeply so far in 2026, with shares in EQT now down 26% for the year. A selloff in software stocks spurred by fears over competition from artificial intelligence-powered agents raised concern around the quality of asset managers’ portfolios.
“The underlying holdings get hit, and as a result EQT, Partners Group and others all get hit, too,” Panmure Liberum strategist Joachim Klement said.
Knocks to software companies are particularly relevant to private credit fund managers given “software’s longstanding role in both public and private credit markets,” BlackRock credit strategist Dominique Bly wrote in a note to clients.
Selling accelerated last week when alternative asset management behemoth Blue Owl Capital said it would liquidate $1.4 billion in assets to pay out unhappy investors. The move shook confidence in the sector, as traders questioned whether investors in asset managers’ funds are willing to ride out a difficult spell.
Moreover, private asset funds aren’t helped by renewed uncertainty surrounding President Trump’s tariff regime following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down levies issued under emergency powers, Allianz analysts wrote in a note.
“For private equity and private credit, trade policy uncertainty introduces material risk at a critical juncture for distribution recovery and credit pricing,” they said.
Not everyone is worried, however. Fear around the health of private credit portfolios “stems from a lack of understanding of what private credit is,” analysts at Bank of America wrote.
In a statement last week, Partners Group sought to address investor concerns around the quality of its holdings. While acknowledging investor concerns around “a potential bubble in the technology sector,” the group said its exposure to software is half that of the industry average.